WHAT GOD DECREES AND WHAT GOD PERMITS (3 OF 8)

What God Decrees and What God Permits (3 of 8)
Trying to understand God's Will
David Cawston
Isaiah 45:5-7, 9, 12-13

There are two ways of thinking.
Thinking Horizontally or thinking Vertically!
Horizontal thinking is human thinking.
We much prefer to live in this here-and-now realm, seeing life as others see it, dealing with realities we can touch analyze, prove, and explain.

Vertical thinking, thinking by faith!
But God offers a better way to live - one that requires faith, one that opens new dimensions of thought, and introduces a perspective with human limitations.

A prophet by the name of Jeremiah was called by God to minister on His behalf. Jeremiah was afraid to accept the assignment because, form his perspective, he was too young, too inexperienced. . .simply too inadequate. The Lord silenced that thinking in Jeremiah by telling him that even before he was conceived that God had set him apart. God had promised to protect him and to deliver him and to use him mightily. God had decreed certain things.

Yes hard times would come but in spite of hardships ahead God had called him and would protect him. Nothing would alter or stop the plan God had.

It is obvious that there are some things about God that we must try to come to understand.

I. God's Decreed Will

A. It is sovereign!

We must recognize that God is Sovereign and when He decrees certain things they will happen no matter what we say!

There are certain things that He has decreed

Job 14:1, 5
1"Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.
5 Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. NIV

Job tells us that the decreed will of God is running its course precisely as arranged by our great God.

This aspect of the will of God is not something that we can anticipate ahead of time we only know it after it has happened.

We are surprised by it!
The MRI reveals a tumor
The 37 year old wife t ...

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